A tale of herbs, salmon fillet

It all started with a salmon fillet recipe I saw in The New York Times. The recipe sounded very simple - potatoes, salmon fillet and an herb vinaigrette. The vinaigrette called for fresh herbs.

It had been some years since I'd grown herbs, and I decided the time had come to grow some. At my Connecticut home I'd had an herb garden close to the back door. Right now, though, my knees don't bend the way they used to, so I planned to grow my herbs on my screened in porch where they would be fresh air and sunlight, and they would be readily accessible.

My friend, Lois, bought for me the four herbs the recipe called for - rosemary, sage, thyme and parsley. I also wanted chives, and these, too, she bought. Vera, who takes good care of my home, helped replant the herbs in larger pots, and I was all set.

It was Saturday morning when I had time to cook the salmon fillet recipe, and I began by prepping for it. Out came a bowl to mix the vinaigrette in, a whisk to emulsify the ingredients, a cutting board and paring knife to finely chop the herbs, spoons to measure the herbs and olive oil, a measuring cup to measure red wine vinegar, a parer to peel the baking potato, and a butcher knife to cut in 1/4" slices. Kosher salt and pepper were set out in their grinders, as was the olive oil and the Dijon mustard, the potato and a clove of garlic to be minced. The salmon was in the frig.

The stage was set, so to speak, and the next step was to repair to the porch and, armed with scissors, cut what approximated the required herbs.

Back to the kitchen. Check the recipe. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush two shallow baking dishes with olive oil. Peel and slice the potato. Arrange potato slices in a single layer in bottom of a dish, brush with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Time to check the potatoes, and here came the first problem. The potatoes were still hard, so a preparation came to a halt while I let them continue to bake.

I used the spare minutes to delve into a book I was reading, remembering to set the stove timer for 15 minutes knowing I could be so immersed in what I reading as to forget time and the present.

When the timer rang, back I went to the kitchen, pulled the potato dishes out, turned the oven themostat to 250 degrees as stated, placed the salmon fillets on top of the potatoes after brushing with olive oil. When the oven had cooled down to 250 degrees, I put the dishes back in the oven.

The recipe called for 12 minutes of roasting. I checked and found another 15-20 minutes were needed. The salmon was drizzled with the vinaigrette.

The result?I consider this recipe a dud. I like to cook, but the prep time was lengthy and the prescribed oven roasting times were a disaster. But with my constant monitoring, the resulting food was quite edible, and two results were good.

First, the extra vinaigrette is stored in the "frig" for future use, probably on a tossed salad. Secondly, and best of all, I have my herbs growing contentedly on my porch.